9
The boy introduced himself as TB and revealed the reddish-black map of wounds on his body to the entire mercenary group. Supporting the boy by the shoulders as he stood on the table, Ricardo pointed to various parts of the blood map, addressing his men.
“Got it, crew? This kid’s stomach here has a map, drawn by somebody carving these wounds into his siblings’ bodies. It’s crazy, but there’s one thing we can glean from this.”
“The slave traders’ hideout, right? The ones who captured his siblings? But that ain’t our—”
That ain’t our business—was what the lieutenant was about to say, but everyone already knew that unspoken rule. Whatever a band of slave traders did—good or bad—wasn’t their concern. Their job was to hunt down the bandits. Sympathetic though they might be to TB’s plight, they couldn’t neglect their mission. But Ricardo shook his head.
“No, you’re missin’ the point. Look at the marks on this map. They show where the caravans were attacked and where we assumed the bandit stronghold might be. Doesn’t that strike you as strange?”
“Well, yeah, it does feel unsettling… But what does it mean?”
“Look again. The X marks on the caravan raids and the places we’ve been chasing shadows. Now, look at the X marking where the slave traders are… This map is tellin’ us somethin’. You know what it is, right?”
“Whoa, wait, Ricardo, you can’t mean…”
Finally catching the meaning behind Ricardo’s savage smile, the lieutenant widened his eyes in shock. Most of the other mercenaries hadn’t put the pieces together yet, so Ricardo spoke loudly for all to hear.
“The thing we’re lookin’ for ain’t bandits. It’s slave traders posing as bandits… Really, it’s criminals disguising themselves as merchants and ambushing real merchants.”
They’d been looking for bandits all this time, but there never were any. The attacks were carried out by a criminal outfit masquerading as legitimate merchants, attacking trade caravans under the cover of night. They stole everything—the carts, the cargo, and even the merchants themselves, who were enslaved and later sold in distant cities. That was how this criminal enterprise operated.
“Anyway, these slavers…once they left Banan, they’ve been loiterin’ around these parts this time of night. Judgin’ by the speed their wagons are movin’, there’s only one group they could possibly be.”
“The Razcrew Company!”
The lieutenant spat the name of the caravan that had passed by their camp earlier that day, causing a stir among the mercenaries. He panicked, worried it was too late to catch them, but Ricardo shook his head.
“Stay calm, man. Didn’t I tell you? This map shows the roads they’re takin’. And before long, they’ll have to stop and make camp for the night.”
Once they knew that location, all that remained was for the Hound to live up to his name.
“Take down the tents! We ride now! To get Razcrew—to catch those bandits!”
With an invigorating cry from the lieutenant, the mercenaries flew into action. Ricardo watched them move, then turned to TB—the little boy who had accomplished his mission with extraordinary courage—and clapped him on the shoulder.
“Son, that was a damn brave thing you did. You’re a hero.”
“It was nothing, sir… I would do anything for my brother and…sister…”
And with that, the last dregs of strength left TB’s body. Ricardo quickly caught him. He could tell immediately that the boy’s tiny frame was burning with fever, and his breathing was erratic. It was no surprise. With wounds like those, the pain must have been agonizing beyond belief. And if his blessing was working the way he described it, his siblings’ suffering had to be far worse.
Which was exactly why they needed to give this battle their all.
“Ana, your message came through loud and clear.”
As he held TB in his arms, Ricardo muttered the name of the girl who wasn’t there. She had memorized a map after seeing it only once, connected the dots between the bandits and the slave traders, and sent that message to Ricardo at his campsite. She was a key player in this battle.
“I’ll get you out of there safe and sound…and after that, we’re gonna have a long talk about how exactly you got kidnapped by slave traders…!”
She was supposed to be safe in the city. So how the hell had she fallen into their hands?
Ricardo hadn’t even considered that the man he let get away was behind it.
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